Bhubaneswar: Kunal Kamra has the penchant for stirring controversy. The Stand-up comedian’s political colours are obvious when one take a sample of the personalities and polies on his radar.
Kamra has been again in news following his political jokes on his Naya Bharat show. The comedian framed a political satire which has been perceived as a political taunt at former Maharashtra CM and current Dy CM and Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde.
POLITICAL SATIRE OR TAUNT?
In his comedy show organised at the Habitat Centre, Kamra sang his new song. The song is as follows.
“Thane ki rickshaw, chehre pai dadhi.. Ankhon pe chasma... haye,... door se dekho to woh mujhe... Gaddar Nazar aye.... Fadnavis Ke god main baith Jaye.... so on.
Though Kamra has just stopped short of naming Maharashtra Dy CM Eknath Sindhe, he left nothing ambiguous.
The Thane... Dadhi, Chasma, Fadnavis et al clearly portrays none other then Eknath Shindhe.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION OR CHARACTER ASSASSINATION?
The Apex court of the country in many of its judgments has made it very clear that fundamental right to freedom of expression is inherent to Indian constitution.
Simultaneously, the Supreme Court of India has acknowledged that it's not absolute and can be subject to reasonable restrictions, such as
- Hurting reputation
- Character Assassination
- The court says if speech or expression does the above, then it falls under defamation
- And, is not protected by the right to free speech
- Doing so could lead to legal consequence
The Stand up comedian’s political taunt (more), satire (less) seems to come under the impression of hurting reputation and character assassination.
KAMRA POLITICAL COLOURS
In the same Naya Bharat Show video available on You Tube, the comedian has taken a jibe at Rajya Sabha member Sudha Murthy, where he said:
‘Jo ameer hojate hai aur so middle class hone ki acting karte hai, unme see ek mahan aurat hai, uska naam hai Sudha Murty. Simplicity ki moorat hai woh. Uska wohi claim hai ki mein simple hun. Aur usne apni simplicty pe pachaas kitaab likhi hai….har kitaab ka point yeahi hai ki woh simple hai.”
(Among the rich people who pretend to be middle class is a great lady, Sudha Murthy. She is an embodiment of simplicity. That’s her claim. She has written 50 books on her simplicity…theme of each book is I am simple).
It seems the comedian’s political satire hovers on the border of hurting reputation and character assassination of a personality.
A look at the number of personalities he was in cross hairs with, or framed satires on, reveals his political colours.
- Senior Journalist Arnab Goswami
- PM Narendra Modi
- BJP
- Sudha Murthy
- Former CJI DY Chandrachud for giving bail to Arnab Goswami, he even compared hime to flight attendant.
- Called Supreme Court a Brahmin – Baniya Affair
- Criticised Election Commission and EVMs
A look at the above names reveals Kamra’s political colours, as his political satires, bordering on character assassination, have been on BJP and high profile personalities with whom he disagrees.
